


Of Pals and Potential Pandemics

by SilverSilence14



Series: The Of & And : MCSM Short Stories [3]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Minecraft: Story Mode, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-25 01:11:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21347824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverSilence14/pseuds/SilverSilence14
Summary: Aiden remembers vividly what he went through to get a cure for a dying Lukas way back when ago.And he’d rather not have to go back to the jungle or it’s natives again.Ever.However the Ninazu Chieftess Dagna is back. No, LITERALLY back, she’s in his living room right now!
Relationships: Minecraft - Relationship
Series: The Of & And : MCSM Short Stories [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/919593
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	1. The Snake Knows Best

Aiden’s first warning should have been when Bites nearly knocked him over trying to stop him.  
  
Aiden was looking back, waving to Gill and Maya “Later guys- woah!”   
  
Bites slammed down in front of him so hard, Aiden was sure the super snake cracked the path tile.   
  
Back up the road his friends laughed and Maya called out, “I think he wants to play!”   
  
He shoved Bites away from his face, “Ya think?”   
  
“Play fetch with him!” Gill hollered.   
  
“I gotta get home Gill!”

  
“Then make a bigger door so he can follow you in! Look at him he’s lonely!”   
  
“Y~eah, I’ll get right on that.” He gave them another wave and turned away, heading for his house. 

Bites shot ahead of him, once again stopping in front of him, “Bites…come on.”  
  
Bites shoved his head into Aiden’s chest, which really just hit his whole body. Because let’s face it, Bites had a big head. “Ow! Bites would you stop that?!”   
  
The snake went to gently head butt again, but Aiden ducked under the viper and walked towards his house, “I’ll play with you in a minute okay? Just let me get cleaned up? I’m hot and sweaty and - Bites!!!”   
  
Aiden was yanked from the ground, his jacket snagged by one long fang belonging to- you guessed it. He slipped out of his coat, bending his knees to absorb the impact as he hit the gravel. His jacket fell moments later, one large hole in the collar. “Dammit you legless lizard! That was my good coat!”   
  
The reptile shrank back as Aiden inspected the hole, his other hand reaching back to feel his neck for any breaks in skin. Bites had been careful, Aiden's skin wasn’t even scraped. But Aiden was still cautious , because Bites had been recently discovered to be _highly venomous_ after all.   
  
“Want my jacket huh?” he muttered, waving it to the viper, “It’s not like you haven’t eaten the other three anyway. You know those really can’t be good for you.” He reached for the door, “But hey, it’s your body so don’t come crying to me when - _Ahhhh_!”   
  
Bites had bitten down around Aiden, well not really bitten per say. He had simply tucked in his fangs and took half of Aiden’s body in his mouth. Not biting down, simply cupping as he dragged Aiden from the door.   
  
“Bites! Bites let me go!”   
  
The snake didn’t let go

  
Aiden bopped him on the nose, which was their sign to stop whatever it is the snake was doing, “Bites now !”   
  
The animal - almost reluctantly -let go.   
  
Aiden stepped away, half his shirt now damp with snake saliva. “ Look at what you did! Now I am definitely going to have to clean up,” he snatched up his coat yanking in on “And let me tell you it is gonna be the longest damn shower I can dish out!”   
  


If the snake was capable of any other expression besides the blank reptile expression, Aiden would have sworn he almost looked stressed at that moment. He ignored it however and marched towards his house, hearing Bites follow.  
  
“No! You stay there!”   
  


The snake stopped, one flick of a tongue escaping his mouth.

  
“Stay,” Aiden said firmly, then he entered his home.   
  
He found it weird that his door was unlocked, he could have sworn he had locked it before he left. Aiden didn’t practice his open door policy much anymore now that Jesse and his crew had found their way home. But he didn’t think too much on it, he probably just forgot.   
  
He closed the door behind him, his house cool and dark unlike the outside summer heat   
  
It was then Aiden noticed -glancing over his shoulder as he departed the entryway- that the lock on his door was busted. “What in the world?!”   
  
Bites smacked his tail on the ground aggressively, mimicking a rattler warning against intruders-   
  
_Intruders_!   
  
“Bites!” he went to turn back when Aiden was suddenly slammed against the door the breath knocked out of his lungs. He gasped for air, reaching up to fend off his attacker. “Who the-”   
  
A hand clamped over his mouth and a gleaming knife pressed against his throat, then a harsh voice hissed into his ear, “_You will not move!_”   
  
Mental note: The snake knows best.


	2. Never Leave Your Sword Upstairs

Aiden went into a crazed defensive, he forced his hands under his attacker’s knife wrist and shoved; using all his body weight to get the weapon away. He then simultaneously kicked out, catching the other in the knees joint.   
  
The stranger cried out - more in surprise than pain - and Aiden was able to confirm by the pitch that his attacker was female. She stumbled and rolled away as Aiden snatched his coat rack from the floor and swung it down like a club.   
  
The female lunged away as it hit the ground, the bottom snapping off from impact. She jumped up, skirting to the side trying to get behind. Aiden himself struggled to stay in front, attempting to identify this stranger as he swung the broken piece of furniture to keep distance.   
  
She was curvaceous and dark skinned. She wore a simple long sleeved animal hide tunic. She also wore a strange sort of baggy pants, perhaps cotton? Her face was wrapped in cloth, but Aiden could see piercing dark eyes and her long dark hair pulled high above her head.   
  
Certainly no one he recognized….   
  
At least ...._he thinks._   
  
Outside Bites hissed, aggravated.   
  
He knew she was in here , Aiden thought,  He had been trying to warn me.But he can’t break in now and risk me getting hurt.

  
He made a mental note to pay closer attention to his pet’s attitude in the future. 

Assuming he survived this.   
  
The fact that his attacker was a female confused him greatly. It had been months since Aiden had been jumped by any of the locals. The last time anyone tried Bites almost ate a guard and Petra broke one of their jaws. There had never been a female leading any of them either, at least none that physically attacked him with this level of skill.   
  
The woman managed to get behind Aiden, grabbing his left arm and wrenching it up behind him. He yelped in pain and dropped the snapped coat rack as she slammed him against the wall pinning him.   
  
“Stop fighting me!” she yelled.   
  
“Get out of my house!” he yelled back.   
  
“Just listen - _Augh_!”   
  
Aiden swung his head back smashing the back of his head into her face. The female stumbled back, dazed. Aiden flipped around kicked her in the stomach forcing her back.   
  
Aiden made a mad dash for the door, knowing if he could get outside he’d have Bites to back him up.   
  
Of all the days to leave his sword upstairs….   
  
His attacker was already up, snatching him by the wrist and yanking him away from the door. Aiden turned around from the hard pull and fell into her, sending them both sprawling to the ground.   
  
Aiden reached up grabbing the knife from the woman’s grasp, then scrambled up and rushed into the living room. He leapt over the coffee table, swinging his borrowed weapon at her outreached hands. “Back off!”   
  
She yanked another knife out of Notch knows where, twirling the blade in her fingers. “Do you really think I’d bring just one?”   
  
Where was she keeping that? he gaped mentally. It gave him a feeling of deja vu -   
  
Wait .   
  
The female leapt across the table, dagger swinging. Aiden managed to block till she kneed him in the gut.   
  
Gasping Aiden stumbled back, she lunged forward grabbing his throat and shoved down. Aiden tripped over the recliner and crashed to the floor smacking his head against the solid mahogany.   
  


He knew that move!   
  
Dazed Aiden went to get up, but the intruder dropped down, her thighs coming to rest on either side of his ribs as her full weight compressed onto his chest. She pulled Aiden’s knife out of his hand and stabbed the other one into the corner of his jacket, effectively keeping him down.   
  
She pressed her regained weapon against his throat, “Yield, Aiden!"   
  
There was silence, nothing but the gasping breaths of the two warriors.   
  
She knew his \- Wait just a cotton pickin minute!   
  
Still gasping Aiden reached up and grabbed hold of the woman’s cloth wrap. She didn’t try to stop him, so he yanked down, the fabric tore free revealing the face.   
  
Aiden was shocked, “Dagna?!”   
  
The Chief of the Ninazu tribe stared back, violet eyes flashing in the dim light.   
  
“What are you doing here?!”   
  
She pressed down the blade breaking the edges of his skin, drawing a thin line of blood, “You, will, _listen_.” she hissed.   
  
Aiden leaned away the best he could, “We haven’t gone back to the jungle!" He said hastily, "Everyone in town knows it’s strictly off limits! I told them it was full of quicksand and spiders and other big angry things, no one knows you’re in there-”   
  
“That’s not it!”   
  
“Then what?!”   
  
“We need to talk-”   
  
“Are you  serious ?!” Now Aiden was angry , “ Talk ?!?! There are better ways to do that woman and let me tell you - breaking and entering is not one of them!”   
  
“You wouldn’t have let me in-”   
  
“Yes I would! All you had to do was knock and say ‘Hey! We need to talk!’”   
  
“Just listen-”   
  
“Seriously, _what the hell_?! I kept my promise, why aren’t you-”   
  
“Hey! We need to talk!” Dagna mimicked. She put away her dagger, shaking him, his head once again bumping against the floor. "We need to talk _right now!"_   
  
“_Ouch_! That’s not-”   
  
She clamped a hand over his mouth, “Aiden! If you don’t help me both of our worlds _will die!_”   
  
There was silence.   
  
Aiden slowly pushed her hand off, “I’m sorry, what?”


	3. Drink Please!

Aiden, resting stiffly on his couch, reached for the coffee cup.   
  
Dagna raised her dagger.   
  
Aiden gave her a look, “I’m not arming myself-” she opened her mouth but he cut her off, “And I’m not calling for help.”   
  
Dagna lowered her weapon, slipping back tensely against the opposite chair of him.   
  
Aiden took a drink of his coffee, wishing he had something stronger than the caffeine. He was starting to understand Isa’s need for alcohol after a bad day.

  
Cause….this wasn’t a good one to be sure.   
  
“Besides, Bites would smash in here and eat you if you did anything,” he mumbled.    
  
Dagna frowned, “He can’t fit in the door.”   
  
Aiden glanced to his kitchen, where there was a section with new building blocks. Aiden discovered completely by accident that if he screamed loud enough in any form that resembled distress or terror - there was a spider in his kitchen don’t judge - Bites would come into the house door or no, “He doesn’t need a door.”   
  
Dagna raised an eyebrow and looked to the front window. Bites was coiled up outside, waiting. “You trained him then,” she said steely.   
  
“No, he just hangs around,”   
  
“Mmmmm.”   
  
Aiden took another sip of coffee, still trying to settle his nerves, “Sure you don’t want a drink?”   
  
The woman remained silent.   
  
“Mmkay then….” he sighed, letting the mug rest on his thigh and reaching his free hand up to rub his temple, “So both our world’s -”   
  
“Are going to die.”   
  
“I assume you mean my town and your village?”   
  
Dagna frowned, “It could be the whole world if you don’t help me.”   
  
“What do you mean?”   
  
Dagna stood, pacing the floor, “You recall what happened in Ninazu’s temple?”   
  
Now it was Aiden’s turn to frown, “Y~eah, we fought, we talked -sorta- you discovered I was infected and then you let me leave.”   
  
“Well I followed you.”   
  
“ What ?!”   
  
Dagna faced him, “I followed you and your female companion back here to your home -”   
  
“- Which is why you know where I live I figure?”   
  


“Yes. I had the intention of killing if you returned to your tribesmen and turned out to be lying. Fortunately for you, you weren’t lying about your companion Lukas. So I concluded that Namtar and Ninazu had selected you worthy enough to live and did not slit your throat in your sleep.”   
  
“How kind of you,” Aiden said dryly.   
  
She didn’t catch his tone and continued her pacing"Life went on for us, we still had plenty of the Gift to cure my people, very few of us got sick and no one died from the infection. I considered it to be a good sign. If we had truly angered the Gods we would have been purged, would we not? So I, for the most part, was confidant in my decision.“

"I'm sensing a 'but'." Aiden said, tense.   
  
"But unfortunately not everyone agreed with my decision to let you live and leave with the Gods' flowers. One in particular was our medicine man and a member of the council. His name is  Bowen . He strongly believed I should have killed you. He voiced his opinion multiple times, even claiming me unfit to lead. But he never acted on it.”   
  
“O~kay?” Aiden said slowly.

  
“Then, a few months ago, during the cold months, people started getting sick. Which usually isn’t uncommon, but they were getting sick with Namtar’s Mark,”   
  
“The Coughing Plague?”   
  
“Yes, Bowen kept treating them, and things would get better. But every few moon cycles my village would succumb to the sickness again.” Dagna looked stressed, “The signs would get worse, Namtar would take them faster-”   
  
“Wait,” he leaned forward on the couch, “People were  dying ?!”   
  
Dagna looked down, a spark of sadbess in her eyes.“Yes." She said softly, "The flowers….they did not help. But still Bowen managed to treat them.”   
  
“This is a bad thing?”   
  
“Yes.” Her eyes went steely, “Bowen had gathered a following, those who shared his beliefs on your fates and those in awe of his 'healing powers’. Last week he came forth with his followers, claiming that he had a vision from the heavens, and he was Namtar incarnate. He boldly stated that he controlled the power of death.”   
  
“Did no one stop him?”   
  
“One of my guards did  -tried ...B-but- Bowen he….He stretched out his hand,” she mimicked the motion, “And simply opened his palm…….The guard succumbed to the Mark in a matter of minutes.”   
  
“Wait,” Aiden stood, “The plague killed him? In  minutes ?!”   
  
“His face went pale, then there was coughing and he gasped as if there was no air in his lungs. He started to vomit a black vile substance. Then his body gave out to spasms. He began to bleed, out the nose, ears, his-” she cringed, “His eyes…..then he stopped moving. And Bowen just stood there….unaffected.”   
  
Dagna faced Aiden, “He and his followers took over, they imprisoned many, infected those who fought and 'immunized’ those who converted- I…..”   
  
“Dagna?”   
  
“I knew there was no way Bowen could be Namtar. He may be our god of death and disease but he is a kind god when he chooses. There is no mercy in Bowen’s heart. He told his followers he would march upon you and your people and strike you down. I broke out shortly after I was imprisoned, and went to Ninazu’s temple. There I found the truth. Bowen has somehow managed to harness the sickness and enhance it into something far stronger. He carries it with him in a concentrated powder. But he is no god he is not immune, for he also carries the cure to it. I have discovered that the first component consists of pure God’s Flower. But I know not of the others.”

  
She pulled out a vial,voice choked on emotion, “He’s destroyed our garden, t- there are no flowers left. I took his last bottle of cure, and fled here. But he follows with his poison and will soon be here. We can save your people and mine But this vial is not enough to save everyone. Which is why I…..request…. your help,” Dagna looked desperately at Aiden, “When I observed you, I saw that the elder with you was fluent in alchemy and medicine.”   
  
Aiden blinked, momentarily confused. “Elder? Do you mean  Ivor ?”   
  
“Yes!” she grabbed his arm, “I never thought I’d ask this of an outsider, but I  need you. Your friend Ivor can find and unveil the last ingredients to the cure and we can prove Bowen to be the false god that he is!”   
  
“But what about the pure flowers,” Aiden stammered, “Where are those?   
  
“The flowers from the temple are pure. The ones you took…..” Dagna pressed, “As long as you didn’t modify them in any way-”   
  
“No, I only used water to grow them.” Aiden tilted his head towards the back or his house, "They have a greenhouse all their own-"   
  
“Then you have the only known pure flowers left in this world! Aiden! You’re the only one left with the Gods Gift! Without it everything in our world will perish to Bowen and his sickness!”   
  
Wow that was a lot to swallow …..He could  really use that drink now.   
  
“Aiden?”   
  
Aiden put a hand on her shoulder, “Dagna, you really didn’t have to break in and jump me to ask me that.”   
  
She tilted her head, “Does this mean….?”   
  
“I’ll help, if I don’t, my city is in danger anyway. Come on, I’ll show you the greenhouse and then we’ll go find Isa.”


	4. What You Have Wrought....

Bites shot around the side of the house and to the back not even five seconds after Aiden and Dagna stepped out beyond the back door.   
  
He flew across the yard quicker than an arrow, wrapped himself around Aiden and forced the younger male away from the tribeswoman, hissing menacingly.   
  
Dagna stood there, unfazed, “He seems tamed to me. Truly you have bewitched him.”   
  
“I  feed  him." Aiden corrected as he wiggled against the snake, “He’s not tame, he’s just- ugh - over protective- Bites I am fine!!”   
  
The snake let off, tongue slipping out to catch Dagna’s scent. If there was any indication that the giant reptile recognized his former 'owner’ he showed no sign. Bites slithered away, curling up on the porch.   
  
“It amazes me how attached he is,” Dagna admitted. “You inspire loyalty in the oddest of places.”   
  
“I have no idea what you mean,” Aiden said, trotting down the stairs.   
  
She followed, “That guard who would patrol your home, the female with the black hair, now Bites-”   
  
He looked back over his shoulder at Dagna, “How long were you spying on me?”   
  
“Roughly a moon segment, you call it a week.”   
  
Aiden sighed and headed up the garden path.   
  
“I do not understand something though.”   
  
He looked up at the sky, weary, “And that would be what?”   
  
“Why did you do it?” Dagna asked firmly.   
  
Aiden stopped walking and turned to face her, “What do you mean?”   
  
The Chief crossed her arms, “I now know that those innocent people you claimed to have hurt were the ones in this very village. I have seen the distrust radiating off them and I must know. Why did you risk everything - your very life- to save them?”   
  
“I did it for Lukas, not for them.”   
  
“Is he your brother?”   
  
“No, we’re not related. What does that have to do with anything?”   
  
“So it is your love is for him then?”   
  
“My what?”   
  
“Your attraction to-”   
  
“What?! No!” Aiden flushed, “I didn’t do it out of love - not that kind anyway. It’s nothing like that!”    
  
“Then why save him?” she demanded.   
  
“Uh..” He thought on this, then, “You know how you would do anything to protect your tribe, your people? They’re like family but not in blood?”   
  
“Yes?”   
  
“It’s like that, I cared for Lukas a lot, even though we weren’t family, or lovers or whatever. We’re just really good friends and I didn’t want anything to happen to him.”   
  
“Then why bring back enough for the others- who owe you nothing and give you no love? Or why not take it all from me and leave my people to die for trying to kill you?”   
  
Aiden shrugged, “I guess….It was the right thing to do?” He he paused, then Aiden, nodded assuring himself, “Yeah, it’s what Lukas would have wanted me to do.”   
  
Dagna looked off, pondering. “Hmmm. I see.” she looked back, “You are a strange person Aiden.”   
  
“Thaaaank you?”   


Suddenly a new voice cut through the air,

“Aiden!”   
  
Aiden’s eyes went wide. Oh sweet Notch, that was Reggie!   
  
Startled by the unexpected and unfamiliar voice, Dagna yanked out her dagger.   
  
“No!” Aiden cried.   
  
Bites shot his head up alarmed, and lunged off the porch.   
  
Aiden lurched forward grabbing the woman’s wrist and shoving down before she could release her weapon. The dagger embedded itself in the dirt at their feet. Seconds later Reginald rounded the corner of the house. His sword was drawn, “Aiden! Are you alright?!”   
  
Aiden kept his hand on Dagna, “Fine!” he called. He looked to Bites who was tearing across the lawn, “Bites calm down! I’m fine!”   
  
The snake hesitantly slowed.   
  
“Who is that?!” Dagna hissed.   
  
“A friend,” he hissed back, “Now put your other knife away!”   
  
The female didn’t comply, the dagger remained at her hip, her hand resisting Aiden.   
  
Reginald ran up, snake in tow “I know you hate it when I hover, but I was passing by and noticed Bites was agitated, and then he shot around the house, I feared that….” he slowed his approach, raising his sword, “Are you sure you’re alright?”   
  
“I’m good Reggie, but thanks for checking.”   
  
Reginald eyed Dagna suspiciously, “Who is this?”   
  
Dagna went to take a step forward-   
  
“Um,” Aiden pushed a little more firmly at Dagna’s wrist, “Reginald this is  Chief Dagna of the Ninazu Tribe.”   
  
The guard’s eyebrows shot up, “Did you say  Ninazu ?”   
  
“Yes,” Aiden coughed, “Dagna,this is Guard Captain Reginald of Ground Town. He is a  friend , and he can help you.”   
  
Reginald luckily caught Aiden’s pressing tone and quickly put his sword away.   
  
Dagna stood there a moment, then, “Hmmmph.” she sheathed her knife and yanked the other out of the ground, putting it away with it’s partner. She turned to Aiden, “The flowers?" She demanded more than asked.   
  
Aiden gestured down the cobblestone path, “Just in that grove.”   
  
Dagna strode away, Aiden following in tow. Reginald fell into step next to him.   
  
“Did you say what I thought you said?” he whispered.   
  
“Yep.”   
  
“Aiden, what is she doing here? I thought she was in the jungle. The one we were never to enter?”   
  
“Yep again,”   
  
“Then why is she  here ?”

  
Aiden leaned in a bit, “In case you haven’t figured we have a problem.”   
  
“Ya think?” the guard scoffed, “What in the world is going on?”   
  
“She needs our help. A cult has formed from her people and they intend to wipe us out. They plan to use the Coughing Plague.”   
  
“Another epidemic?!”   
  
“Think more like a potential pandemic if the crazy cult leader gets his way.” Aiden whispered. “She came to us, because we’re the first stop on his purging crusade and we’re also the only ones with flowers left for the cure.”   
  
“The ones you took? What happened to theirs?” Reggie asked.   
  
“Destroyed. We need Ivor to-”   
  
“Aiden!” Dagna said suddenly.   
  
Aiden stopped walking, “What?”   
  
“You are not leading us to that glass building I pray?”   
  
Aiden looked at his greenhouse, not fifteen away, “Y~eah? Is that a problem? That’s where I keep your Heaven’s Flower.”   
  
“There are no flowers there.”   
  
“What?!”   
  
Dagna looked distressed, “I was there before entering your home. I thought I’d take-   
  
"You broke into my greenhouse too?!” Aiden gaped.   
  
“I never broke in, the door was open! But it matters not, there are none!”   
  
“There has to be,” Aiden brushed past her, and hurried to the greenhouse, yanking to door open. “You must have gotten confused and -” Aiden gasped.   
  
“Oh sweet Notch!” Reginald mumbled in horror.   
  
Aiden’s Cosmic Orchid garden had been one of his biggest prides. From twelve little flowers, hard work had produced an abundance of hundreds. It had been a full and spectacular greenhouse. You could see the lovely purple glow radiating all the way from Ground Town. Aiden had worked together with Isa to design an amazing building that only allowed moonlight in, so the flowers would grow at their finest….   
  
Now there was nothing.   
  
Not a  single flower.   
  
Everything was gone, from the baskets to the plants on the mossy ground. Every one of Aiden’s flowers had been torn up from the roots, “I- I don’t - how-”   
  
“Bowen’s men!” Dagna cursed, “They must have gotten here before me, they must have used horses. Bowen will have taken them for his cure!”   
  
“They took everything!” Reginald exclaimed.   
  
“Ninazu , Namtar, have pity,” Dagna groaned, burying her face in her hands. “How can you let this false prophet defile you so?   
  
"Aiden please tell me you have more flowers stashed elsewhere?” Reginald said slowly.   
  
Aiden was frozen, if only for a second. “The basement!” he turned to the house and started running. “I had some in the basement I was going to make cure extract! That’s where the seeds are too!”   
  
“But your cure cannot prevent his disease,” Dagna argued running after.   
  
“It doesn’t matter, there are still flowers down there!”   
  
Aiden yanked opened his back door and raced into the house. Very few people knew that Aiden had a basement beneath his house. The entrance was a panel in the pantry floor. He had been meaning to remodel and actually get a proper set of stairs. But the discrete door might be just what saved him from the robbers.

  
Aiden jumped down the ladder, “It’s in- No!”   
  
Gone, all of it, ransacked just like his greenhouse.   
  
“I was just here yesterday! How-” Aiden trailed off, speechless.   
  
The vials containing flower essence were missing, the ones with cure were smashed. All his equipment was either broken or gone. And the flowers…   
  
Gone .

  
“They must have been here this morning! Is Bites not you guardian?!” Dagna demanded, “Why did he not stop them?!”   
  
“He always followed me to town today!” Aiden snapped. “You’re the one who broke into my house, why didn’t you see this!”   
  
“I didn’t know this was here! The God’s Flower was already gone from your greenhouse by the time I arrived, and I’ve only been here a short time!”   
  
“Aiden?” Reginald spoke up.   
  
“What?”   
  
The captain pointed, and Aiden and Dagna both turned to see.   
  
At the far end of the room, sitting on the only table left standing, was a single potted Cosmic Orchid. It’s petals were closed, and there was a piece of paper under the flower.

  
Aiden felt his blood run cold.   
  
“Reginald, check the wall panel behind the ladder,” Aiden walked towards the plant, “Maybe they forgot the seeds.”   
  
“What’s the code?”   
  
“12-29-20-16”   
  
Reginald went to the other end while Danga joined him at the table.   
  
“ Why would Bowen leave a flower?” Dagna asked.   
  
“I don’t know,” Aiden glanced at the paper, unable to read the markings, “Is that a note?”   
  
The woman snarled, “Yes, it is in the tongue of my people,”   
  
“What does it say?”   
  
“Ye who has forsaken me-” she spat the ground, “It is Bowen! He still claims to be Namtar!”   
  
“Ignore it Dagna,” Aiden said evenly, “What does the rest say?”   
  
“….Ye who has forsaken me and forsaken my children. Look before you and see your legacy..”   
  
Aiden eyed the flower.   
  
“….Look before you and see what you have wrought among you and your people for failing to do the sacred duty which must always be carried out. This is the will of Namtar. Bah!” Dagna spat again, and reached for the flower, “Why would he leave this here?”   
  
What you have wrought….   
  
Failing to do the sacred duty?   
  
Aiden’s eyes went wide, “Dagna wait!” he grabbed her hand and shoved her away from the plant.   
  
The sudden rush of air and the bump of Aiden’s hand sent the petals opening, revealing a rotted and black interior - a dead plant.   
  
Aiden thought he saw something glint in the light and felt something hit his hand but it all happened so fast he wasn’t sure.   
  
The flower bent over, petals falling off. The once sparkling interior now looked like a black hole.   
  
Reginald ran up, “Aiden what happened?”   
  
Dagna stared in horror from her spot on the floor at the dead orchid, “He killed it….Bowen killed the Gods Gift….”   
  
“Killed what?” Reginald looked to the table, “The plant?”   
  
“Did they-” Aiden coughed, “Get the seeds?”   
  
“No,” he held up a bag “They’re still here, I don’t think they knew about the safe.”   
  
“Good we-” Aiden coughed harder, “We need - to get-” cough, “them to Isa - and - and-” he couldn’t keep talking.   
  
“Aiden what’s wrong?!”   
  
Aiden leaned over, overwhelmed by the sudden cough attack. His lungs burned and it felt like the very air had been pulled from them. He couldn’t stop coughing!   
  
“Aiden!”   
  
Dagna scrambled up, “By the Gods! No!!”   
  
Aiden wheezed, and kept coughing, the sound wet and ragged. His vision was going spotty. He couldn’t breathe!   
  
Reggie grabbed hold of his arms, “Aiden! Aiden!” he looked to Dagna, “What have you done to him?!”   
  
“I have done nothing! He has been struck!”   
  
“Struck?! What the hell you mean-”   
  
Aiden’s body lurched, lungs on fire and he felt something slimy hit the back of his teeth. The taste overwhelmed his senses, it was like he had bitten down on a rotten piece of food. He struggled not to heave and spat the glob out, a black mass flew past his lips splattering on the floor.   
  
“Let go of him! Give him to me!”   
  
“Get away! Or I swear on Notch-”   
  
Aiden choked, his lungs cried desperately for air! He need to breathe! The more he coughed the more the strange ooze seemed to come from the depths of his body. Air!   
  
“Aiden!!”   
  
Aiden knees gave out, still clinging to the other male, he gasped “R-reg-”   
  
That was all Aiden got out with the last of his oxygen, before his world succumbed to darkness.   
  
“AIDEN!!!!”   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaaaand Cliffhanger!


End file.
